


Mabari

by HollowLand



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Hawke (Dragon Age) Has a Twin, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:29:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23999011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HollowLand/pseuds/HollowLand
Summary: Anders has had it with the dogs. Hawke needs to do something.
Relationships: Anders/Male Hawke
Kudos: 9





	Mabari

**Author's Note:**

  * For [confusedkayt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/confusedkayt/gifts).



> Features the Hawke twins, Florian (a mage) and Alanis (a warrior). Their mabari are Hannibal and Hammurabi respectively. 
> 
> 'Hawke' is generally Florian in this case - Anders tends to think of Alanis as 'The Other Hawke'.

“Hawke, they’re doing it again.”

The mage was sitting on the floor of their bedroom, back against the wall. He had been scribbling something but was now glaring. Hawke turned to look at the object of Anders’ dismay.

Hannibal and Hammurabi sat on either side of the door, upright and alert. They were staring at Anders. They weren’t baring their teeth or growling but they eyed Anders with clear menace in their hearts. Hawke laughed.

“It’s not funny, Hawke. How am I supposed to concentrate when those two keep looking at me like I was a cave spider?” 

\---

Anders, a cat person through and through, had never warmed up to the dogs. Even after a year spent living under the same roof – and several years roaming Kirkwall and The Wounded Coast together – he didn’t trust them and they didn’t trust him. For several days after he had moved in, one of them would bark and scratch at the door to the bedroom whenever Hawke and he were in there with the door closed. Every attempt to sleep with a closed door, not to mention other activities, had resulted in a canine cacophony. Anders was convinced that they did it to annoy him. It took three weeks before he and Hawke could fuck in peace. Anders had been close to suggesting that they go back to the clinic, rundown though it was. 

Their direct attempts to annoy him grew fewer after that. He had thought they had accepted his presence. Certainly, they had learnt to accept all of Hawke’s other companions. Sometimes enthusiastically. Even Isabella, who Anders considered rather close to a cat, as far as humans could be. Soon enough, it became clear that they had only lulled him into a false sense of security.

A sock disappeared. Pages from his manifesto went missing with only a dribble of saliva in their place. Streaks of mud showed up on his washed coat. He gave the dogs the benefit of the doubt for a while, which didn’t help. He followed that up by confronting them directly, using the tone of voice he had heard the Hawkes use on them. It didn’t work.

Of course it didn’t. Anders was Fereldan, and he knew full well that Mabari bonded with their chosen human – and them alone. That Hannibal was at Hawke’s side was a testament to what a wonderful person his love was. As for the other Hawke… she had many fine qualities too, if not in the realm of personality or empathy. They were the only two people to whom the dogs would listen without question. Even then, it only worked for their own dog. Anders had seen Florian argue with Alanis’ dog to no avail. Hammurabi was loyal to her, not him, and was more willing to confront Florian than his littermate was.

Eventually, Anders cracked and called on Hawke to intervene. The first time around, Hawke had laughed it off. He found it hilarious. He found most things hilarious. Anders’ adored Hawke’s endless capacity for humour. The way he could find levity in even the darkest times had pulled Anders from the brink many times. It did, however, sometimes become an obstacle. Hawke explained that it was only a few pranks, that the dogs were trying to play with him, that they were just joking to get him to get closer to them instead of maintaining his distance. It took several times bringing up the issue for Hawke to relent and give them a stern talking to.

They had stopped messing with Anders’ things. It was a relief. What had replaced it, however, was somehow worse. They had begun to stare. Anders finished writing a letter at the library desk, stood up and turned around, and there they were – sitting side by side like a pair of statues, eyes locked on him. He glared back at them and walked past. They turned their heads to look at him as he went by but did not pursue him further.

An evening later, he and Alanis stood by the fireplace. He couldn’t remember what they had talked about. Some argument about the plight of the mages, probably. Hawke’s twin was consistent as a rock when it came to her attitude to mages and just as dense. Hypocritical, he thought, given the way she protected Florian and Bethany. She knew what would happen to them. Which meant she knew what happens to all mages but didn’t care about them. Over the years, their arguments grew harsher. Anders had grown livid and exasperated. Alanis had gone the opposite way, colder and more neutral in her affect.

He could remember turning in frustration, in the middle of some sentence, and stopping halfway. There they were again. How long had they been watching? He had no idea. Alanis had turned to look at them. She smiled, or what passed for smiling with that grim woman. She clearly approved. There was no point in bringing it up with her. For all he knew, she had encouraged them.

They all wanted him to leave. Except for Hawke, no one wanted him in that house. None of them wanted him in Hawke’s life, at all. He had heard moments of conversation between the twins. The way Alanis described him, you’d think he was evil incarnate. Which was rich, coming from a woman who regularly cleaved others in half.

Carver too would now and again visit when he was on leave from his training at the Gallows. As though it was not enough that the man actively fought against all that Anders believed in, he also tried to rip Hawke away from him. Had it not been for his love for Hawke, Anders would likely have come to blows with his younger brother long ago.

Fenris, Sebastian: they were there too. Narrowing their eyes at him, making jabbing remarks both obvious and subtle, warning both Hawkes about the dangers of his influence. Fenris had never hidden his hatred of Anders. While the elf had grudgingly come to accept – and even respect – Florian, his loathing for Anders had increased over time. The feeling was mutual and neither of them bothered to hide it. Fenris, he knew, wanted Anders gone not only to protect Hawke, but to protect them all. 

Sebastian was a different story. The Chantry brother hid it well enough to fool Fenris, Merrill, Aveline – probably even Florian, who for someone who had endured so much had a trusting heart. He was definitely fooling Alanis.

Anders and Isabella, who had more experience in the world of sex and attraction than any of them, picked up on it right away. Sebastian was a man on the edge. He was constantly teetering between his vows and his noble status, between faith and action, between lust and purity. His history before he become a brother was more scandalous than he let on, Anders was sure of that. The Hawke twins entered his world and added new weights to the scale. Alanis shared his commitment and at times, his righteousness. Anyone could see the way he pined for her. Ever since that soft falling out she and Fenris had had, which Anders didn’t know much about, she had taken to spending more time with Sebastian. Perhaps the attraction was mutual. 

It wasn’t only Alanis who Sebastian was drawn to. The archer had immediately become attracted to Florian. It was more subtle but Anders could tell. He had been in Sebastian’s place before, and he had been to other people what Florian was to Sebastian. Dangerous. Unusual. Perverse. The more tightly wound you were, the harder you were attempting to cling to your faith, the more alluring the prospect of fucking a mage became. Templars did it so often it was something of a joke. It wasn’t only that they had access to mages and power over them – the appeal went well beyond that. If Florian ever made a move, he knew, Sebastian would give in. He would drown himself in Hawke and resurface hating himself more than ever. 

Sebastian hated Anders because Anders wanted mages to be free, but he hated him more because Anders had Hawke. 

Anders couldn’t fault his taste, at least. If you were going to betray your faith and debase yourself with a mage, there wasn’t anyone in Kirkwall as handsome as Hawke.

No matter the reason, they all wanted him gone from Hawke’s life. Anders knew there were many reasons Hawke should not be with him. He himself had said so to Hawke and when particularly gloomy would repeat them. One day, Hawke would listen – to his twin, to his friends, to Anders himself – and he would leave Anders.

\---

It must have been something in his voice. The comment was casual enough, a regular complaint, but Hawke’s smile dropped. Instead of waving away the dogs’ behaviour, he stood up from the bed. “Come on, you two.” He called them, leading them out of the room.

Anders sighed in relief. He was alone in the room. He set his parchment aside, stood up and stretched. He heard a door close. Had Hawke taken them to another room and locked them there? Surely not. That was unimaginable. Anders poked his head out of the bedroom and looked around. Hawke and Hannibal were nowhere to be seen but the door to the library was closed. Hammurabi rested by the fire, his eyes closed.

Anders shrugged. He picked up his parchment and sat on the edge of the bed. Several minutes later, they emerged. He could hear Hannibal trot up the stairs. The dog poked his head through the door. His ears were low. He gave out a long, plaintive whine. He’s ashamed, Anders realised. 

“What kind of game are you playing now?” He asked him, harsh.

Hannibal maintained his meek demeanour and walked up to him. Incredibly, he pushed his head under Anders’ free hand and rubbed against it. 

“You’re just trying to get Hawke off your back, aren’t you?”

Hannibal barked sharply, disagreeing.

“Why should I trust you?”

Another bark, happier. Hannibal ran out of the room and returned seconds later, something in his mouth.

“My seventeenth manifesto draft!” Anders grabbed it. The dog relinquished it easily. “I knew you and your co-conspirator had it. Oh, don’t give me that face.”

Hawke had appeared at the door. “He’s trying to apologise, Anders.” Hannibal supported this claim with a bark.

“How do I know he’s not putting on an act?”

“Because I guarantee it this time.” Hawke was unusually serious. Anders was willing to accept his words.

“Alright.” He experimentally patted Hannibal on his head. The dog ran around in a happy circle, stopped for a scratch from Hawke, and left.

Hawke sat on the bed next to Anders and took his hand.

“What did you say to him?” 

Hawke shrugged. His usual smile was back. He could never stay serious for long. “I told him I was your Mabari.”

“What?” 

“It was something he could understand. You’re mine, and I’ll never leave you, no matter what you do. Because I love you, and I chose you. It means, by definition, that you are a good man. It means that no matter how hard you are on yourself and how much you might screw things over, I’m here. I told him that when he tries to make you leave, it’s like somebody trying to make me leave him. After that, he needed no further explanation.”

“I don’t deserve you, Hawke.”

“Haven’t you been listening? It’s not up to you to decide.”

**Author's Note:**

> Florian and Alanis were created independently of each other in two separate playthroughs that confusedkayt and I had together. But they make sense as twins, too. Thanks confusedkayt! Best co-player ever.


End file.
